The concept of Family Guy was conceived by MacFarlane in 1995 while studying animation at the Rhode Island School of Design. He created two shorts entitled The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve, both of which played a key role in Fox executives' decision to pick up the series in 1998. After two seasons, Fox decided to cancel the show. Despite the cancellation, a third season was produced,[1][2] after which the series was officially canceled at the end of 2003. Reruns on Cartoon Network's block Adult Swim drove up interest, and a letter-writing campaign, along with impressive DVD sales, encouraged Fox to bring the show back permanently.[3]Family Guy returned to production in 2005, and was contracted to continue producing episodes until at least 2013. In May 2013, Family Guy was renewed for a 12th season in 2013–14.